The use of heat to remove dental brackets has become one of the more popular and accepted methods. In order to have successful dental bracket removal using heat, it is necessary to heat the bracket to a temperature where adhesive becomes loose enough in order to become viscous, and such that the user of a heating instrument can pull or pry the dental bracket from the tooth. Of course, the situation requires a very specific amount of heat to be applied to the bracket, in order that the bracket heat to a sufficient level, but that the tooth surface and pulp are not affected.
One such instrument which discloses such heating of dental brackets is Sheridan, U.S. Pat. No. 4,455,138. In Sheridan, a mechanism is used where the debonding tip is able to be placed within the archwire slot of a dental bracket and a looped cable fits around the tie wings of the dental bracket in order to pry the dental bracket from its position after the application of heat. While Sheridan was the first to demonstrate the use of heat in removing dental bracket adhesives, the Sheridan method had certain drawbacks. Most specifically, in Sheridan, the forces necessary to remove the dental bracket were unacceptable.
In Martin, U.S. Pat. No. 4,907,965, I demonstrate that the heating of a dental bracket can be accomplished while simultaneously using a prying instrument acting as a reactive base within the heating instrument. Therefore, a reactive base is placed against the tooth, the tie wings are attached to the pulling instrument attached to a spring, and the debonding tip is attached into the archwire. After heating the adhesive, the nose which creates the reactive base of the instrument pushes against the tooth while the spring pulls off the dental bracket from the tooth, as the now heated adhesive has become viscous.
While my apparatus has been shown to be quite successful, it is felt that methods and devices for removal of the dental brackets could further be refined. It has been found that the stronger the grip of the dental bracket heating mechanism on the dental bracket and the larger the surface area in which the dental bracket is heated, the quicker the adhesive becomes viscous, and therefore the less heat is exerted on the tooth. Of course, this adds to patient comfort, and usefulness of the electrothermal heating device.